Gently reared Martin finds himself adrift without means when his uncle goes bankrupt with gambling debts. He seeks a livelihood as tutor to the young children of an earl on a remote Welsh estate. Arriving on a dark and stormy night that sets the tone for his whole adventure, he falls into intrigue, mystery, and powerful new loves -- for the three traumatized children and their enigmatic guardian.<br><br>Dylan has been called back from service in South Africa when his elder brother supposedly finds his wife with another man, kills the pair and then himself. He’ll now have to assume most duties of the earldom, raise his nephew to majority and care for three orphaned children. Desperate for help, he hires a young man sight unseen to become their tutor while he works to uncover the facts of the scandalous tragedy that tore apart his family. Both matters reveal surprising results.

Dark and Stormy

“I-I-I…uh, yes, I-I-I will…think about it, that is. Right now, I am quite taken by surprise. And for the nonce, the children and their recovery from the tragedy are my primary focus and concern.”


Again, Dylan smiled. “That is exactly as it should be. We would not want to rush into anything. I only wanted to make you aware since I’ve detected a slight hint you might have thought once or twice about the matter.”


He turned with a brisk and abrupt military about-face and strode off toward the nearest door to the manor house. For long seconds, Martin stared at the other man’s back. At last, he recalled himself enough to follow. It was high time he got back to his charges. However, he found it more difficult than usual to concentrate on the afternoon’s lessons


Chapter 14